Just Out Of My Reach
by redmagiclily
Summary: Everyone talks about Red, the boy who conquered the Pokémon league in just a few months. Everyone forgets that Blue did it first. Character study, sort of.


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

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For as long as Blue could remember—since the moment he'd understood the meaning of _Pokémon_ and _Champion_ as a child—he had known what he wanted to be. He was the grandson of a world-famous Pokémon Professor and trainer, likely the most famous Pokémon researcher in the world. It only made sense that he would be just as knowledgeable about Pokémon.

He strived for his grandfather's attention every day, waiting for the day he would look at him and say, "I'm so proud of you, Blue."

An acknowledgement of Blue's potential. A sign to show that he believed in Blue, that he knew Blue was meant for Champion the way everyone knew he wanted to. It was his dream. He told his grandfather so almost every day.

But Blue didn't qualify, apparently. He never did, and it didn't make him jealous anymore the way it used to. He knew what his grandfather thought of him, _knew_ that he would be one of the greatest Pokémon trainers in Kanto, if not _the_ strongest, but his grandfather had always looked at Red with a sort of eagerness and delight in his eyes that never showed when he turned to Blue.

Always, always, he looked right past Blue, at Red instead, as if seeing something about him nobody else could see.

Red wasn't the one who followed him, always spending time in his lab, always trying to help him and learn how to train Pokémon and become a great Pokémon trainer. Red was just _Red_, always quiet and unremarkable. What did Red have that Blue didn't?

So he severed his friendship with Red, covered it with taunts and jeers, and Red, being Red, just rolled with it as if he didn't mind.

How could anyone so weak-willed and silent ever amount to anything? But he did, and he'd beaten Blue the moment they received their Pokémon. Even with a type advantage, Blue _lost_. His first ever Pokémon battle.

And then he proceeded to lose, over and over again. Every single battle. He trained his Pokémon in all the right areas, maximized their potential. He _knew_ he did. And every time he met Red, smugly revealing that he was already one step ahead of him, Red just shrugged and steamrolled right over him in their battle.

Blue was always ahead of him in badges, but Red never failed to be one step ahead in battling. He'd seen the way Red fought. Knew firsthand the way Red made battling an art of precision and strategy. Blue was good at training, knew how to make his Pokémon improve, knew which Pokémon were worth catching and which were weak and useless, but he never seemed to be able to gauge the amount of damage each attack would do, or guess unerringly which Pokémon would be sent out next.

Red could. His grandfather'd known before Red had even received his first Pokémon.

"_Kindness_," Professor Oak had said. "That's what you need, Blue. Think about what Red has that makes him stronger than you."

He didn't fully understand what it was that he meant. He treated his Pokémon with kindness. He loved them and trained them and they were impossibly loyal to him back. He only sacrificed his weaker Pokémon if it was to ensure that his more important Pokémon survived, and never pushed them too far pointlessly because that might hurt them permanently, which would be a waste of the potential he knew they had.

Always one step ahead of Red, that was what he kept in his mind during his journey. His Pokémon grew faster than Red's, which what allowed him to progress through the gyms faster, and that was one thing he was better at than Red. He'd always thought that if only he pushed faster, trained them to be stronger and better than anyone else's, Red's advantages wouldn't matter.

He challenged the Elite Four within a year of starting his journey. His team was diverse, instead of sticking to one type the way the Elite Four members did. He challenged them, and he beat them, and he took over Champion's room, the previous Champion of half a decade shifted down to the fourth room. He called his grandfather, excited and still coming off from his battle high, to win the "I'm proud of you, Blue," he'd desired since the moment he knew he would be a trainer.

His grandfather walked into the room as Red defeated him for the last time.

"I'm disappointed in you," was what he said to Blue.

"I'm proud of you," was directed at Red.

No matter what his grandfather said, he hadn't forgotten to trust his Pokémon. He loved them when he caught them, was there to see them grow from feral, weak Pokémon and evolve into the strong partners he had.

He was the Pokémon League Champion for a short while, not even long enough to win a single battle, but he _was_, and that was what everyone forgot. He couldn't have beaten the Elite Four if he hadn't trusted his Pokémon. Lance came from Blackthorn, was practically _raised_ alongside his dragon-types, and he'd passed the Dragon Master's test.

The Dragon Master had the same all-knowing eyes of his grandfather that spotted the trainers with the most promise. Blue had _beaten_ Lance. He couldn't have if he hadn't believed in his ability to do so.

Blue _understood_ Red, and Red understood him. They were best friends once upon a time, and Blue knows that it was Red's dream to be the strongest Pokémon trainer in Kanto, maybe even the world. Only when he left did Blue realize that Red hadn't associated that term with _Pokémon Champion_. Red, just like him, couldn't stand staying in one place for too long; they needed to keep improving, keep going, or they would be stuck in the same spot forever, trapped.

Red so easily gave the title Blue'd worked all his life for back to him, so Blue gave it back to Lance. He returned to Pallet Town, went home, and stayed there with his Pokémon until he was worthy of the title.

Kanto appointed him as the strongest trainer worthy of the Earth Badge. Blue no longer cared about the prestige.

Red got all of it anyway. Red was hailed as the strongest trainer in the world, the mysterious boy who stopped Team Rocket's schemes, the kid who won every battle and defeated Gym Leader Blue every single time without even _trying_. Red was proclaimed the youngest and fastest trainer to earn the title of Pokémon Champion.

Everyone forgot that Blue achieved that first, no matter how short his reign was.

End.


End file.
